Dwell in the Word 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Contemplate these questions as you dwell in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13:

1. Paul emphasizes the importance of learning from the history of the Israelites and their experiences in the wilderness. How can we apply these lessons in our own lives to avoid falling into disobedience and to remain faithful in our walk with God?

2. The analogy of facing temptation is discussed, highlighting God's faithfulness in providing a way of escape. How can we actively recognize and utilize these "ways of escape" when we encounter temptations in our daily lives? What practical steps can we take to turn to God for strength and guidance?

3. Reflecting on Paul's warning about overestimating our own strength, how can we cultivate a mindset of humility and dependence on God in the face of trials and temptations? What are some specific strategies we can implement to stay grounded in our faith, knowing that God is faithful to help us endure?

Transcript:

 So, we come to chapter 10 and Paul is giving the people in the church in Corinth instructions on how to live.  And he starts out by saying, hey, I don't want you to be unaware that our fathers were under the cloud and all passed to the sea and all were baptized Into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

Well, what is he saying here? What is his concern? Well, he wants everybody to know these stories, you know about Moses the stories, you know about the people in the wilderness Not everyone there would have been saved. They all were a part of the people of Israel. They all passed through the Red Sea and they were spared.

But they did not, um, they were not all necessarily saved because some of them were in disobedience. And the best I've ever heard this explained, for me to understand it, was by Kim Riddlebarger on a long episode ago of the White Horse Inn many, many years ago. And he said that what we need to understand is there were people who were in Israel when they were faithful.

They were a part of the covenant, they were a part of all this, but they didn't believe. And they would not have been saved.  But there were also people, when Israel was in disobedience, when they were in exile, and yet there were people then who had faith and trusted in the promise, who trusted looking forward to Christ.

And even though they were amongst a group of many unbelievers, they would have been saved because of their faith. And so, that's the idea here that we're seeing, that even though the people were in a time of blessing and many people believed, there were those who were disobedient in the wilderness. That was the point.

As it says, Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Many of them did not believe.  And we also see here, before we move on to the end of it, we also see something important that reminds us how to interpret an Old Testament passage. As we think back, I believe it's Exodus chapter 17, where the people are thirsty and they're grumbling for water.

They say, give us something to drink. And God provides water for them by Moses striking a rock. Well, Paul is telling us that that rock was pointing to Christ. That rock, when it was struck, it was Christ being struck and pouring out water for his people. And so that helps us to understand how we look forward to the fulfillment in Christ in these Old Testament narratives.

But as we come down, Paul has been talking here.  About the people remaining faithful that they need to stand strong and look at what he says in verse 12 This is this verses 12 and 13 here are powerful stuff for us Important for us to pay attention to therefore that anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall Hey, we know this we know this the stronger we think we are the more likely we are to fall, right?

And Paul is saying hey, even if you think you're following God faithfully make sure that you are ready to face temptation and he says here no temptation is overtaking that is not common to man. What we face Isn't something nobody has experienced before or none of us and it's not something that any of our brothers and sisters Around us aren't experiencing also and so we need to understand that these are temptations But we can face them we can come up against them and notice what he says He doesn't he doesn't say to the people well  You go after it here.

What does he say? He says, God is faithful first. He's saying you can do this because God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. What awesome news that is for us. You know, we know that we have been saved in Christ, but we face those temptations every day.

But God does not let us be tempted beyond our ability and he does provide a way of escape. How great is that? So, may we, as we step into the world today, be thinking, as we face the temptations that the world is going to throw at us, may we be thinking, how can we escape this? How can we be running from the temptation?

And the number one way that we do that is we run to Christ, the one who was struck in the wilderness to provide water for his people, right? He will provide for us and we need to run to him so we have our mind set on him and not on the things of the world. So may we be having his word in our mind today and may we trust that the Spirit will be feeding us today.